Post navigation

More little gems from the Insolvency Service’s blog

As promised in my last blog (albeit later than planned – apologies), here is my second selection of news from the Insolvency Service’s blog and Dear IP 76 that I think is worthy of spreading… with a little further commentary from me, of course.

I have categorised the questions into the following topics:

S100 Decisions

Other Decision Processes

Timing Issues

As I mentioned previously, I am very pleased that the Insolvency Service has shared their views on many issues and I do hope they will continue to be this open. I would also like to thank the technical and compliance managers and consultants with whom I have spent many hours debating the rules; without these valuable exchanges, many of the issues would not have occurred to me.

S100 Decisions

Can the Statement of Affairs and SIP6 Report be delivered by website?

As the director is responsible for delivering the Statement of Affairs, it is the Insolvency Service’s view that the Statement cannot be delivered by means of a website, as the rules governing website delivery – Rs 1.49 and 1.50 – only apply to office holders. Therefore, the Statement must be either posted or emailed to creditors.

Of course, delivery of the SIP6 report is not a statutory requirement and strictly-speaking SIP6 simply requires the report to “ordinarily be available”. I understand that at least one RPB is content for the SIP6 report to be made available via a website.

Does an invitation to decide on whether to form a committee need to be sent along with the S100 proposed decision notice?

The question arises because R6.19 requires such an invitation where any decision is sought from creditors in a CVL, whereas usually the company is not in CVL when the S100 proposed decision notice is signed.

The Insolvency Service has answered “yes”, the director needs to seek a decision from creditors on whether to form a committee when they propose the S100 appointment.

Can the SoA/S100 fee be approved via deemed consent?

In view of the Insolvency Service’s approach to IPs’ fees in general, the answer to this might seem an obvious “no”. However, the background to the query was that the rules require creditors to approve the payment of the fee, not its quantum, and therefore it is not quite so obviously “a decision about the remuneration of any person”, which the Act limits to decision procedures, i.e. not including the deemed consent process.

But unsurprisingly the Service answered: “no”.

This has led some people to rethink their process of getting paid the SoA/S100 fee. We have been receiving quite a few questions on whether such fees need approval if they are paid pre-appointment and/or by a third party.

The Insolvency Service has confirmed that R6.7(5) – which requires approval of payments made to the liquidator or an associate – applies to payments referred to in R6.7(4), i.e. those made by the liquidator. R6.7(3) provides that, where payment is made from the company’s assets before the winding-up resolution, the director must provide information on the payment along with the SoA, but they do not require creditor approval.

Does R15.11’s timescale for decisions on the liquidator’s remuneration (when made at the same time as the S100 decision on the liquidator) apply also to decisions on the SoA/S100 fee?

R15.11 provides that at least 3 business days’ notice must be given for S100 proposed decisions on the liquidator. This rule also provides that the same timescale applies to “any decision made at the same time on the liquidator’s remuneration”. It stands to reason that, if a virtual meeting were convened to consider a decision on the SoA/S100 fee at the same time as the decision on the liquidator, the same notice requirements would apply, but does the SoA/S100 fee strictly fall under “the liquidator’s remuneration”?

The Insolvency Service has stated that R15.11 should be taken to include the proposed pre-liquidation payments referred to in R6.7(5).

Other Decision Processes

What access information needs to be provided on a notice summoning a virtual meeting?

This question arises from the requirement of R15.5 that the notice to creditors must contain “any necessary information as to how to access the virtual meeting including any telephone number, access code or password required”.

The Insolvency Service has answered: “we think that sending a contact number or email address for creditors to contact in order to obtain such details is also acceptable under this rule”.

Personally, I am pleased with this answer, as I think it makes the logistics of virtual meetings far more manageable. It almost eliminates the risk of unknown “excluded persons”, as you would know who is planning to attend. You could also set up ways of verifying who participants are; you could contact them beforehand, maybe send them agendas and meeting packs. Also during the meeting if they get cut off, you would have a ready alternative contact for them, and it would be easier to count votes or set participants up with electronic voting. I don’t think that some kind of pre-meeting contact is too much to ask from creditors; to illustrate, if I want to sign up to an open-access webinar, I think nothing of contacting the convener beforehand in order for a link to be sent to me.

Can creditors ask upfront for an Administrator’s Para 52(1) Proposals to be considered at a physical meeting?

As we know, when Administrators include a Para 52(1) Statement in their Proposals, they do not ask creditors to vote on whether to approve the Proposals, but they must start a decision process going if the requisite number of creditors ask for a decision within 8 business days of delivery of the Proposals. Para 52(2) makes it clear that the request from creditors is for a decision, not a meeting as was the case before the Small Business Act. However, R15.6(1) states that “a request for a physical meeting may be made before or after the notice of the decision procedure or deemed consent procedure has been delivered”. Therefore, if the consequence of creditors asking for a Para 52(2) decision is that the Administrator issues a notice of decision procedure (say, a correspondence vote on the Proposals), then this rule seems to allow creditors to ask for a physical meeting before this notice is delivered.

The Insolvency Service has confirmed that this is the case: “there is no reason that the requisitioning creditor should not at the same time request a physical meeting. We note your comment that the request for a physical meeting is being made here before a decision process has even commenced, but we think that is it reasonable to interpret the rules this way on this occasion because the request does clearly relate to a decision”.

Ok, so does a creditor asking for a physical meeting to consider the Para 52(1) Proposals need to pay a deposit to cover the costs of this meeting?

R15.6 sets out how creditors’ requests for a physical meeting should be handled. It includes no reference to paying a deposit to cover the costs of the meeting. Mention of paying a deposit appears at R15.18, which relates to requisitioning decisions.

Therefore, quite rightly (albeit unfairly) in my view, the Insolvency Service has stated that “it would follow that where costs of the decision are met by the requisitioning creditor then these would be for a decision which is not made by a physical meeting. Any costs of the physical meeting over and above the security paid by the creditor for a decision process would be an expense to the estate”.

Thus, it would seem that, on receiving sufficient requests for a physical meeting to be summoned to consider Para 52(1) Proposals, the Administrator would need to calculate hypothetically how much it would cost to organise this via a non-physical-meeting procedure and ask the requisitioning creditor for this sum. As the rules require “itemised details” of this sum to be delivered to the creditor, this would take some explaining in order to put the creditor’s mind at ease that we weren’t ignoring their request for a physical meeting even though we were asking them to pay the costs for conducting, say, a correspondence vote!

Does a creditor need to lodge a proof of debt in support of a request for a physical meeting?

The Insolvency Service’s simple answer is “no”. This is what I thought when I read the rules, but it does seem odd… and could lead to all sorts of controversy.

Can approval for an Administration extension be sought by deemed consent?

Understandably I think, the Insolvency Service has answered “yes”. It almost goes without saying, however, that seeking secured creditors’ consents is not a decision process; the positive approval of each and every secured creditor is required (just thought I’d mention it).

How do you deal with the need to invite creditors to make a decision on whether to form a committee when seeking a decision by deemed consent?

The Insolvency Service has confirmed that this committee decision can be posed by deemed consent.

Via Dear IP 76, the Service also endorses the format of a proposed decision in the negative, i.e. that a committee shall not be formed… although it adds a sticky proviso: “in this way, if creditors have already indicated a lack of desire to appoint a committee, the office holder could simply propose that no committee be formed”. How do creditors indicate a lack of desire? In S100 CVLs, this seems straightforward enough in view of the fact that, as mentioned above, the director will have needed to invite such a decision in the first place. However, whether an absence of anything but the usual creditor concerns in, say, the first few weeks of an Administration is sufficient to indicate a lack of desire to satisfy the Service, I don’t know.

What is the alternative: that a positive deemed consent decision be posed, i.e. that a committee will be formed? The problem here is that, unless creditors object, then this decision will be made by default. In the light of probable creditor apathy, this could be unhelpful. Therefore, if a positive deemed consent decision is posed, it would seem necessary to describe it something like “a committee will be formed if there are sufficient creditors nominated by [date] and willing to act as members”, which to be fair is almost the wording set out in the Rules (e.g. R10.76). In this way, if the invitation for nominations is similarly ignored, then the positive decision, even if technically made, is of no effect.

However, it’s all a bit of a faff, isn’t it? It hardly makes for a Plain English process. I also dislike the idea that an office holder must propose a decision that he/she may not support. It doesn’t sit right with me for an IP to invite creditors to approve a decision to form a committee when the IP does not see the need or advantage in having one on the case in hand. However an IP words the proposed decision, creditors can take action to appoint a committee and, as the Rules do not prescribe a form of words, then surely office holders are free to propose a decision as they see fit.

If a Notice of General Use of Website has already been issued, what is the effect of Rs3.54(3/4), 2.25(6/7) and 8.22(4/5), which require additional wording about website-delivery in certain circumstances?

This question requires some explaining. As we know, R1.50 provides that the office holder can send one notice to creditors informing them that all future circulars (with a few statutory exceptions) will be posted onto a website with no further notice to them – this is what I mean by a Notice of General Use of Website. However, we also have R1.49, which repeats the 2010 provision that each new circular can be delivered by posting out a one-pager notifying creditors that the specific document has been uploaded to a website.

Things get complicated when looking at Rs3.54, 2.25 and 8.22. These rules govern how we invite creditors to decide on an Administration extension and a CVA/IVA Proposal. They state that the notice regarding such a decision may also state that the outcome of the decision will be made available for viewing and downloading on a website and that no other notice will be delivered to creditors and these rules go on to specify additional contents of such a notice, which draw from R1.49.

So the question arises: if you have already given notice under R1.50 to confirm that a website is going to be used for (almost) everything, do you need this extra gumpf?

The Insolvency Service has clarified that you don’t. If you have already followed (or are following simultaneously) the R1.50 process, then you need not worry about adding such references to your R3.54/2.25/8.22 notices; you can simply issue the notice via the website and then issue the outcome via the website also. Of course, given that you’re inviting creditors to consider an important decision, you might also want to post something out to them, but this does not appear necessary under the rules.

Timing Issues

If an Administration has already been extended pre-April 2017, when should I next produce a progress report?

As covered in a previous blog, the issue here is that, before April 2017, an extension would have resulted in the reporting schedule moving away from 6-monthly from the date of appointment and instead it will be 6-monthly from the date of the progress report that accompanied the request to approve the extension. As drafted, the 2016 Rules had not provided a carve-out for these cases, so it seemed that the reporting schedule for these extended Admins would be reset on 6 April back to 6-monthly from the date of appointment.

An attempt was made to fix this in the Amendment Rules, but in my view it was not wholly successful. They state: “Where rules 18.6, 18.7 or 18.8 prescribe the periods for which progress reports must be made but before the commencement date an office-holder has ceased to act resulting in a change in reporting period under 1986 rule 2.47(3A), 2.47(3B) 4.49B(5), 4.49C(3), or 6.78A(4), the period for which reports must be made is the period for which reports were required to be made under the 1986 Rules immediately before the commencement date.” The intention is clear: where the 1986 Rules have moved a reporting schedule away from the date of appointment, this adjusted schedule should continue. However, the reference to an IP ceasing to act is unfortunate, because in the scenario described above, this has not happened.

The Insolvency Service acknowledged that this rule “could perhaps have been more explicit” (ahem, I think the problem is that it was too explicit), but emphasised that the intention is clear. Presumably therefore the Registrar of Companies will not reject filings made on the extended 6-monthly schedule. (UPDATE 04/12/2017: the Amendment Rules that come into force on 8 December 2017 settle this matter once and for all.)

Also, just in case you haven’t already picked it up, I should mention that the Amendment Rules have most definitely fixed the issue I raised some months ago about the length of a month, so progress reporting now continues pretty-much in the pre-April way… although of course we now have to factor in the time taken to deliver reports.

Do Administrators’ Proposals really have to include a delivery date?

Sorry, this is more just me having a whinge: R3.35(1)(e) requires Administrators’ Proposals to state the date that the Proposals “are delivered” to creditors. When the Proposals are signed off, this will be a date in the future.

The Insolvency Service has confirmed that this is the case: they require the future “deemed” delivery date to be listed.

Of course, there are practical issues with this. If you deliver Proposals using more than one method, e.g. by R1.50 general website-delivery but also by post where some creditors have asked for hard copies (which admittedly will be rare), then you may well have more than one delivery date.

More practically, how will you/your staff complete this little nugget? It is commonplace for Proposals to go through lengthy drafting processes (despite some non-appointment taking IPs’ views that Proposals should be simple to produce in the first few days especially where there has been a pre-pack); drafts are turned over to several different people, being edited as they go. It is going to be a real faff to keep an eye on this insignificant date. My personal recommendation, if the issue date cannot be guaranteed at the outset, is to keep this delivery date coloured/highlighted on draft Proposals so that it is the very last item completed just before the Proposals are signed off.

Do you have to wait until the MVL final account has been delivered to members before submitting a copy to the Registrar of Companies?

When closing an MVL, the liquidator is required to confirm to the Registrar that s/he “has delivered” the final account to members (R5.10(3)).

The Insolvency Service does not believe that the liquidator has to wait until the final account has been “delivered” to members at this stage; it is sufficient that the liquidator has sent it. From what I can decipher, it seems they are viewing delivery here as “deemed” delivery, i.e. once it has left your office, it will end up being delivered a couple of days’ later (if sent by post). Personally, I still think it is odd to confirm at this point that the final account has been delivered, but at least we have an answer for any pedant who wants to debate this.

Do you have to wait until the Notice of Establishment of the Committee is delivered to the Registrar/Court before holding the first Committee meeting?

Despite the paradoxical “no” for the previous question, the answer to this one is “yes”.

The issue arises because R17.5(5) states that “the committee is not established (and accordingly cannot act) until the office-holder has delivered a notice of its membership” to the Registrar/Court. The Insolvency Service has confirmed that, yes, the notice must be delivered before the first meeting is held.

The frustration here, of course, is that we will no longer be able to hold the first committee meeting immediately after any meeting that establishes it, but because the rules require us to hold a first meeting (although this can be by remote attendance), we will have to call the committee members back again.

Personally, I wonder if practically it would still be valuable to hold an informal meeting with the (elected) committee members immediately – so that matters for investigation can be discussed and so that you can help them understand how committees work, maybe even discuss the office-holder’s fee proposal with a view to agreeing this later on – and then, hopefully, the actual first meeting will be little more than a formality.

As we apply the new rules in practice, I am sure that more issues and ambiguities will emerge. As I mentioned previously, I am grateful to the Insolvency Service for their openness.

Emerging interpretations and views force me to revisit my previous conclusions, which is a good thing, although I am very conscious that earlier blog posts and presentations quickly become out-of-date. Even my presentation for the R3 SPG Technical Review at the end of March needed an update and this is now available to Compliance Alliance webinar subscribers (drop us a line – info@thecompliancealliance.co.uk – if you want to know more 😉 ).

I am also looking forward (err… sort-of!) to presenting on the rules at other R3 events – 6 June SPG Technical Review in Leeds; 7 June Southern Region meeting in Reading; 28 June North East Region meeting; and 4 July SPG Technical Review in Bristol. I welcome your queries and quirky observations on the rules, which will help me to make my presentations useful to the audience. I’m sure there are many more gems to unearth.

Post navigation

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email (you can unsubscribe by clicking on the link in our emails at any time). Please read our privacy notice (link below) before subscribing.